Halloween II

Halloween II picks up where the last film left off with Laurie Strode a complete and utter basket case. She lashes out at her friends, her psychiatrist, and anyone else in her way. To make matters worse, Dr. Loomis has just released a new tell-all book about the events of the last film, revealing that Laurie is actually Michael Myers' sister which sends her into an even deeper depression as the anniversary rolls around and Michael returns to carve up a new batch of victims.

Writer/director Rob Zombie deserves a massive amount of credit for doing his own thing here. Whereas his first film felt like a less effective paint by numbers remake of John Carpenter's film with just a few of his own flourishes poking through, his sequel is one of the more interesting installments in the series.

There's a lot in this film that feels forced or out of place like most scenes with Michael Myers visiting with visions of his mother, his younger self, and a random white horse, but the dramatic moments between survivors Laurie, Annie, and Annie's father are heartbreaking and played with an unbearable amount of realism.

Before I say anything, I am a fan of horror movies. I like eighties horror, I like some nineties horror, and there's still some horror movies coming out today that are fantastic. Rob Zombies take on Halloween 2 unfortunately does not fall into that category at all. His wife being in the film is completely unneeded. This I believe stems from Rob Zombies need to put his wife in every film he makes. Basically stealing from Friday the 13th, Mikey sees his mom telling him to kill in his head. Also little Mikey and a horse pop up pretty frequently too. And for some reason Laurie sometimes sees his psychotic hallucination, which makes no sense at all. Everyone is trailer park style. Bracket has a huge mullet. Laurie is an unwashed annoying vegan trailer park resident. Annie looks like she should have a pack of cigarettes in one hand and a can of lucky in the other. A very large portion, I'd have to say about 20-30 min of the movie was wasted on filler dream sequences. In fact, a good amount of this film was just that: filler. It's almost as if he was having trouble deciding if he wanted a slasher, an art film, a gore porn, or a survivor drama. And what he ended up making was a horrible mess. In the original films, you barely ever see him sans mask. I believe there were two scenes in parts 4 and 5. In this movie he's constantly shown without it. And his hair/beard makes him look like a mid 80's rob zombie in that crap white zombie band. And finally, the biggest tragedy: the characters. Even in the first remake, Myers acted more like leatherface than the shape. He's supposed to be quiet, robotic, unfeeling, not running into a room yelling and screaming and stabbing the crap out of anything that moves. He's not supposed to have any emotions period. That's what made him creepy. Then he turned Loomis from the hero, the guy who blamed himself for what this monster did and wanted to correct it, into a opportunistic weasel. Donald Pleasence's Loomis was a bit of a jerk, and a little bit nutty, but at least he wasn't a profiteering slimebag. Rob Zombie is the biggest hack in Hollywood currently. House of 1000 corpses stole so much from Texas Chainsaw massacre. Halloween 1 was a barely acceptable mess, and Halloween 2 almost made it look passable. Hopefully this sequel puts the stake back in the franchise, because god forbid a third one comes out, I will not even watch it.

For a person who took a strong disliking to Rob Zombie's Halloween remake, I must say the follow-up, HALLOWEEN II was a breath of fresh air for an avid fan of the Halloween series. It might not be a return to the "Gone of the Wind" of horror movies, but an overall improvement in story, suspense, as well as a pacing that clearly shows Zombie was not in clutches and struggle of trying to rehash John Carpenter's original film while trying to put a spin on it. There were story elements to pick a bone with and the constraints of the 2007 film are obvious. Luckily, Zombie has his white-trash-reality pieces to a minimum in this movie. Though there are accidental homages to the Rick Rosenthal's Halloween II, don't be mistaken. This entry is very different and something completely of Rob Zombie's sole vision. THIS IS NOT A REMAKE, THIS IS A PURE SEQUEL.

The direction was much more focal and clear and Zombie actually delivers some scares, which the first round lacked very much. I also liked the element of Michael Myers having a serious sense of overkill on his victims. And it was also enlightening to see emotional points as well as examinations of the crazed mind, as Michael sees apparitions of his mother as well as him as a child, and as Laurie learns more about herself, begins to have visions and dreams of her own, leading us to question her mental state as events unfold. The characters were way better and the rhythm of the film was refreshing.

Not that it didn't have its moments with necessity to nitpick a bit. Though the "death rides a pale horse" theme of the movie was an awesome story element, it also seemed at times corny as hell. People who aren't big fans of Sheri Moon being in his movies might find it somewhat hard to stomach, but overall the concept had legs. The "ogre" hobo look made Michael Myers seem less threatening at times, but there's also some cool shots as he wanders on his journey. My biggest stake with this film is how much the Dr. Loomis character has strayed into a complete slimeball, instead of the crazed doctor out to get Michael. That left a disheartening taste in my mouth. The score lacked the Halloween themes until the ending, but thankfully what was there throughout wasn't a pretentious modern horror score, playing as more of an ambiance than a shrieking powerful score, which intensified the film a bit to my surprise.

Where all the movies have entertained to a small or large extent, the Halloween series in general has had its extreme highs and unbearable lows. And though there are story elements in this movie that some might dislike (including the "un-reality" sequences), it sure beats Michael's Curse of Thorn or the Man in Black from Halloween 5 & 6, where the filmmakers strayed away from continuity. Only to get busy in series reboots like H20 and Resurrection (the latter being the worst of all the sequels and the first being a weak recharge). What I recommend for next time is a straight ahead sequel to tie up all the loose ends left by sequels that failed to take things in different directions, seeing as tho this is Rob's last venture into Halloweenland. But as his closing film in the Halloween saga, this movie was a serious improvement and I give kudos to this as opposed to a remake that half loved and half could barely fathom.

7/10

This movie has badly damaged the Zombie brand of horror movie. I liked Rob Zombie's earlier slasher\horror flicks. Movies like "Devils Rejects" and "House of 1000 Corpses" combined genuine real life psycho characters with tongue-in-cheek humor that made the movie viewer feel in on the joke. These movies didn't take themselves very seriously, and while gory, were also at least a little bit fun to watch.

Zombie obviously tried to bring some of that camp levity to "Halloween II", notably by including "Weird Al" Yankovic in a cameo role, which helped a little. I think the movie could have used a lot more of "Weird Al" and a bit less of Mrs. Zombie (Zombie's wife played a leading role in this turkey, some type of angel of death as Jason's Mommy...don't ask, too stupid for words).

Unfortunately, this move really stunk. It was just bloody disembowelment after decapitation after evisceration. It was a stupid and bloody mess and a complete waste of time.

Stay away from this stinker.

Some people either like or hate Rob Zombie's remake, but most can agree the sequel is just one big mess. It's quite the experience i must say. Zombie managed to make the characters more irritating with a lot more unnecessary swearing, i swear youll hear the F word every minute in this movie. It seems like it's trying hard to make us care for Laurie but we don't. Shes so damn obnoxious & whiny with zero sympathy. Annie is written kinda bad too. She gets so mad at her dad cuz he calls a cop to watch her even though she was almost killed by Michael the year prior. Dr. Loomis is pretty much unrecognisable in this movie and every scene hes in other than the ending is pointless. The kills are even more bloody & brutal than before & I hate the excessive grunting Michael does too. The ghostly mom visions with the white horse are ridiculous and this whole relationship with his Mom just feels too much like Jason Voorhees. Only character I cared about in this movie was Brad Dourif as sheriff bracket.

As for positives I actually like the hobo Myers approach to this version. It's a more realistic way of what a killer would be doing till next Halloween. I didn't mind him having the mask off either cuz when he puts it back on it makes it feel a little more special. And it's a pretty stylistic movie. I like the grain of the camera Rob shot the movie with. And there's some pretty cool decorations especially at that party scene. Definitely feels more like the Halloween season compared to some of the other sequels in the series. Other than that this movie is just plain bad. And like the first one I recommend tracking down the theatrical version. Unrated director's cut is just too long for a slasher movie & that versions ending is terrible. Also you get a lot less screaming & annoyance from Laurie.